This document discusses gas-powered energy centers for data centers. It begins by stating that increasing data center energy consumption and sustainability requirements mean data center owners need efficient and sustainable power solutions. It then discusses how gas-fueled power generation using natural gas engines is a cost-effective, efficient, and cleaner alternative to grid power or diesel generators. The document provides details on gas engine technology for data centers, including fast start-up times, efficient combustion control, and modular LNG storage and regasification systems. It also covers optimal electrical designs for redundancy and reliability, including ring busbar topology examples. In summary, the document promotes gas-powered energy centers as cleaner, more efficient solutions for data center power needs.

1. IN DATA CENTER CRITICAL APPLICATIONS

2. CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. The future of data centers – why gas technology?
3. Development of gas engine technologies for
data centers
4. Optimal solutions for electrical design
5. Gas-powered energy centers creates revenue

3. THE FUTURE OF DATA CENTERS
– WHY GAS TECHNOLOGY?
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä3

4. AN INCREASE IN DATA CENTER ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND
NEW SUSTAINABILITY REQUIREMENTS MEAN THAT DATA
CENTER OWNERS NEED TO ACT NOW.
Gas-fueled power generation is a
cost-effective, highly efficient,
and sustainable choice for forward-
thinking data center owners.

5. NATURAL GAS – THE CLEANEST OF ALL FOSSIL FUELS
GAS-FUELED POWER GENERATION IS CLEANER THAN THE GRID
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Coal power plant Diesel oil plant Natural gas plant U.S. average grid power EU grid power (average)
CO2 Emissions (kg/MWh)
GAS – A CLEANER FUEL
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä5

6. GAS – A CLEANER FUEL
NATURAL GAS – THE CLEANEST OF ALL FOSSIL FUELS
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
NOx
Diesel oil Natural gas
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
SOx PM
Diesel oil Natural gas
NOx emissions (g/kWh) SOx & PM emissions (g/kWh)
May be reduced
further with SCR
technology
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä6

7. A CHOICE FOR YOUR NEXT DATA CENTER
GAS-FUELED POWER GENERATION
Eliminates “dead
assets” from the data
center with the ability to
tie into the grid
Reduces
environmental footprint
with cleaner burning
natural gas
Enables a data center
where no grid is
available through self-
generation
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä7

8. DEVELOPMENT OF
GAS ENGINE TECHNOLOGIES
FOR DATA CENTERS
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä8

9. GAS ENGINE ENERGY CENTERS

10. • Medium speed engines (720 rpm for 60 Hz)
• Medium voltage generators
• Multi-megawatt outputs (typically 5…10 MW)
• High efficiency
GAS ENGINES FOR DATA CENTERS
GENERAL TECHNOLOGY FEATURES
• Ready to load in 15 seconds
• Start-up time to full power < 1 minute
• Block loads of 25% of nominal capacity
• Capable of full load rejection
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä10

11. RELIABLE AND
FAST START-UP
Engines start with an injection
of compressed air into cylinders
(no electrical starters)
Each engine has its own dedicated
compressed air storage
Faster start-up enabled by:
• Optimal combustion chamber design
• Improved mixture control
• Air assist system to cover the “turbo lag”
SPEEDING UP A GAS ENGINE
Plains End Power Station, Colorado.
Starts up to a thousand times per year backing up wind power generation
– in operation since 2001.
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä11

12. KEEPING GAS UNDER CONTROL
THE CHALLENGE OF CONTROL
Rapid load changes
require extremely fast
combustion control
with individual cylinder-
specific fuel injection
BMEP(bar)
Air / Fuel ratio
Thermalefficiency(%)
Noxemissions(g/kWh)
Optimum performance
for all cylinders
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä12

13. SPARK-IGNITED GAS ENGINE
• Otto Process
• Ignition by spark
• Electronically-controlled
fuel injection to inlet
ducts of individual
cylinders
• Prechamber with richer
mixture
• Short control loop
enabling accurate
mixture control
WORKING PRINCIPLES
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä13

14. SPEEDING UP A GAS ENGINE
FAST STEP LOAD START RESULTS FROM
THE BERMEO ENGINE TEST FACILITY
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä14

15. SPEEDING UP A GAS ENGINE
FAST STEP LOAD START RESULTS FROM
THE BERMEO ENGINE TEST FACILITY
2017426.M3.5 – Load steps of 1550kW plotted on ITIC curve
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä15

16. LNG storage with truck unloading
and regasification systems
ON-SITE LNG STORAGE
• Prefabricated steel bullet tanks
• Integrated regasification station
• LNG supply by trucks, barges or railroad
• Technology proven on land and sea
Standardized modular solutions
for LNG truck unloading, LNG storage,
and regasification, which are fully integrated
to the energy center
LNG-TO-POWER SOLUTIONS FOR DATA CENTERS
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä16

17. OPTIMAL SOLUTIONS
FOR ELECTRICAL DESIGN
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä17

19. STAND-BY DIESEL
GENERATOR PLANT
GAS POWER
AS MAIN SOURCE
MOVING FROM ACTUAL SOLUTION TO ON-SITE PROPER GENERATION
Impacts on
the plant design
Needed redundancy
G G
LV
MV
Mechanichal Load
IT Load
Office/Building Load
Data Center Building
Utility /Grid
LV
MV
G
MV MV
G
Mechanichal Load
IT Load
Office/Building Load
Data Center Building
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä19

20. Generation set reliability
• Redundancy
A SUFFICIENT RELIABILITY/AVAILABILITY LEVEL SUITABLE FOR DATA CENTER APPLICATION
# of Gens Availability MTBF
N+3 99.99992% 557
N+2 99.99173% 10
N+2 and18MVA Grid back-up 99,99999% 3060
N+2 and10MVA Grid back-up 99.99993% 715
All common parts and auxiliaries are
designed without SPOF (single point
of failure) : 2N redundancy
Gas piping and pressure reduction system
Electrical Distribution
SCR (Agent Reduction Unit)
Control Unit
Gas Storage system
Set of N Engines
Generator Unit
Generator/Alternator
Auxialiry Systems
Cooling
Instrument Air
Starting air unit
Exhaust Gas unit
Control unit
…
Generator
Unit
Generator
Unit
Generator
Unit
Power Plant common Systems
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä20

21. Block1
IT load
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG A
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG B
5 mins 5 mins
Reliability target
BUILD A FAULT TOLERANT AND CONCURRENTLY MAINTAINABLE
Unexpected Event in Data Center
“Power blackout of the servers during
more than 20 ms”
At MV (medium voltage) Level
“Power blackout of both redundant medium voltage
feeder during more than 5 min”
Target
Availability : > 99.999%
Unavailability < 5 minutes per year
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä21

23. PROPOSED ARCHITECTURE
FOR A 50MW+ DATA CENTER
Design choices with
10 MW, 15 kV Generator units:
One Voltage level 15kV
(no transformer needed).
Number of generators
in parallel
ELECTRICAL DESIGN
EG EG EGEG EG
The IEC MV circuit breakers
standard defines the following
characteristics for the breaking
capacity:
Short circuit calculation:
I sym I peak %I DC(t=55ms)
25kA 62kÅ 30%
31.5kA 80kÅ 30%
40kA 100kÅ 30%
NB of gens I peak (kA) I sym (kA)
1 9.95 3.9
6 59.7 23.5 <25kA
8 79.6 31.3 <31.5kA
10 99.49 39.2 <40kA
Cost effective IEC design:
8 Units in parallel , 70MW site
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä23

24. PROPOSED ARCHITECTURE FOR A 50MW+ DATA CENTER
67 MW X-large site
• 4 Buildings (blocs)/
4 Floors each
• 54000 sqft x4
• 4 steps of 17.5 MW
• 2N redundancy at MV level
• MV Grid connection for
1 block as an option
ELECTRICAL DESIGN
Block1 Block4 Block3 Block4
Mechanichal Load
IT load
1250A, 15kV
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG A
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG B
G
LV
MV
LV
MV
(7+3)x 12MVA units
Genset SWG
GG
LV
MV
LV
MV
(7+2)x 12MVA units
ATS
Mechanichal Load
IT load
ATS
Genset SWG
Block1
1250A, 15kV 1250A, 15kV
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG A
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG B
Block4 Block3 Block4
KWh
MV
18MVA
Utility A
Back up for
Block1
G
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä24

25. DOUBLE-FED ARCHITECTURE WITH
AUTOMATIC RE-CONFIGURATION
CLOSE RING TOPOLOGY
MV DISTRIBUTION ARCHITECTURE : FAULT TOLERANT
Voltage transformer
Current transformer
ATS Automatic Transfer System Normally opened circuit breaker
NO
Switching device (could be disconnector, switch or circuit breaker)
Normally opened switching deviceNO
Mechanical or electrical interlock
Powered paths
Path BPath A
BackupMain
G1
Auto.
Transfer
NO
G2
NO
G3
NO
G4
NO
NO NONO NO
Auto.
Transfer
Auto.
Transfer
Auto.
Transfer
Loadbank Loadbank
ATS ATS
G G G G
G1 G2 G3 G4
Path A
NO
Path B
NO
G G G G
• Higher capex
• Need complex automatic
reconfiguration in case of
MV(medium voltage) failure
• Cost optimized: Reduce
the amount of MV products
• In case of MV failure,
automatic disconnection
by MV protections
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä25

26. Data Center Building 4
17.5 MW
Data Center Building 3
17.5 MW
Data Center Building 2
17.5 MW
Data Center Building 1
17.5 MW
Generator power plant – units (7+2 redundancy)
MV substation
A3 - 15 kV
MV substation
B3 - 15 kV
MV substation
A1 - 15 kV
Gas generator 1
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 2
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 4
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 5
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 6
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 7
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 8
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 9
10MW unit
15 kV
Gas generator 3
10MW unit
15 kV
MV substation
B1 - 15 kV
Gen4 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen5 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen1 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen2 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen3 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Power plant
auxiliary A
Power plant
auxiliary B
Gen6 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen7 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen8 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
Gen9 SWB
15 kV, Icu 31,5kA
Incomer 1250 A
Ring feeder 2500 A
Load feeder 1250 A
MV grid
connection
substation
15kV
1.5 MVA
0.4kV
15kV
1.5 MVA
0.4kV
MV
18
MVA
15 kV
MV substation
A2 - 15 kV
MV substation
B2 - 15 kV
MV substation
A4 - 15 kV
MV substation
B4 - 15 kV
FAULT TOLERANT DESIGN:
CLOSE LOOP RING TOPOLOGY
Pros
No control system
required
Less medium
voltage cubicles
Fault tolerant
Cons
Zone protection
system
RING TOPOLOGY
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä26

27. PROTECTION
SYSTEM
Reliability constraints:
• Differential protection
is required
• ANSI 87G (generator)
• ANSI 87 L (line)
• ANSI 87 B (busbar)
• Fault isolated
• Continuity of service
provided
G1
EG
87B G2 87B G8 87B
Path A
NO
Path B
NO
87L 87L 87L
G9 87B
87L
87L
87L
EG EG EG
G1
EG
87B G2 87B G8 87B
Path A
NO
Path B
NO
87L 87L 87L
G9 87B
87L
87L
87L
EG EG EG
G1
EG
87B G2 87B G8 87B
Path A
NO
Path B
NO
87L 87L 87L
G9 87B
87L
87L
87L
EG EG EG
TRIPTRIP
TRIP
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä27

28. STANDARD ARCHITECTURE GAS ENGINE ARCHITECTURE
COMPARISON WITH A STANDARD DESIGN
G
LV
MV
LV
MV
(7+2)x 12MVA units
ATS
Mechanichal Load
IT load
ATS
Genset SWG
Block1
1250A, 15kV 1250A, 15kV
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG A
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG B
Block4 Block3 Block4
KWh
MV
18MVA
Utility A
Back up for
Block1
G
G G
LV
MV
LV
MV
11x 2500 kVA units
ATS
Mechanichal Load
IT load
ATS
Genset SWG
Block1
1250A, <15kV
1250A, <15kV 1250A, <15kV
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG A
MV Secondary
Dist. SWG B
KWh
HV
MV
HV
MV
HV
MV
HV
MV
MV Primary Dist.
SWG A1
MV Primary Dist.
SWG A2
MV Primary Dist.
SWG B1
MV Primary Dist.
SWG B2
38MVA 38MVA 38MVA 38MVA
2500A
<15kV
2500A,
<15kV
2500A,
<15kV
KWh
Utility A Utility B
Block4 Block3 Block4
2500A,
<15kV
Path A
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä28

29. • Unexpected event “loss of A and B MV block
n°2 switchboard”
• Failure rates extracted from field experience
from Wartsila and Schneider Electric
• After a failure, the maintenance times are set
according to
• detection time,
• diagnostic time,
• spare delivery time
• repair time
• All planned maintenance operations have been
taken into account
MTBF
(yr)
Availability
(%)
Gas Engine
design
587 99.99922
Standard
case
(N+1 Diesel)
174 99.99966
Standard
case
(N+1) Diesel
2024 99.99992
ASSUMPTIONS FOR RELIABILITY
RELIABILITY COMPARISON
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä29

30. TCO, GAS PLANT, DISCOUNTED TCO, GRID+DIESEL PLANT, DISCOUNTED
TCO COMPARISON
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MUSD
MEUR
Years
CAPEX OPEX Power Purchase
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
MUSD
MEUR
Years
CAPEX OPEX Power Purchase
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä30

31. TCO COMPARISON, DISCOUNTED CASH FLOWS
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
MUSD
MEUR
Gas Plant Grid + Diesel Plant
TCO comparison, discounted
TCO COMPARISON
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä31
YEARS

32. GAS-POWERED ENERGY
CENTERS CREATES REVENUE
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä32

33. GAS-POWERED DATA CENTER – BUSINESS MODELS
Data center with gas power generation
(inside or outside the fence)
Engine power plant operates as the primary
source of power, designed with required
redundancy
Excess electrical capacity may be sold to
the local electricity market as additional
revenue stream
Site Fence
Data center
Backup
Power
Excess capacity
sold to the market
1
2
3
Local Electricity Market
(ERCOT, SPP, etc)
Site Fence
Data center Gas power
plant
Primary power supply
+ Emergency power
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä33

34. THE CASE FOR NATURAL GAS…
MAIN BENEFITS OF GAS FOR LARGE DATA CENTERS
GAS ENGINE DIESEL ENGINE THE ADVANTAGES
Lower NOx and CO2 emissions Higher emissions, especially
NOx and SOx
Larger power output
(5-10MW)
Smaller power output
(2-3MW)
Larger capacity units ideal for
100MW+ deployments
720 rpm rotational speed 1800 rpm rotational speed Less maintenance, not prone to
vibration issues
Medium voltage generator output LV generator output No step-up transformers, can tie
directly to utility substation
Optimized distribution infrastructure.
Better use of less electrical equipment.
Sub-optimal distribution infrastructure.
Under-utilized electrical equipment.
Better cost effectiveness of the
electrical distribution system. Easier
interconnection with utility, if needed.
Pipeline gas supply
(onsite storage optional)
Onsite fuel storage needed Storage tanks for diesel fuel not
required
Proven utility-scale application Typically used for standby applications Less reliance on the grid, additional
revenue stream
02 December 2019 © Schneider & Wärtsilä34